Drug Test Rules Out Tim Credeur

The intervention of the Nevada State Athletic Commission meant that The Ultimate Fighter Season 7 Finale card was one contest short.

Saturday night's preliminary bout between middleweights Tim Credeur and Cale Yarbrough at The Palms in Las Vegas was cancelled by the NSAC after traces of the prescription drug Adderall were found in a pre-fight drug test administered to Credeur.

Credeur, a member of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs Team Forrest cast, informed the NSAC before Friday's weigh-ins that he had been taking the medication up until five days ago. After the weigh-in, Credeur was sent to a Las Vegas lab for a follow-up test but when the results of the test came back Saturday morning, he still showed traces of the drug.

"Unfortunately, the drug was still in his system and he's still positive, so he was unable to get cleared to fight," said Keith Kizer, Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. "It should be out of his system in a few days and hopefully they'll find another fight for him."

According to Kizer, Adderall "acts as a cardio-vascular restrictor and that's the main reason it's banned because it can cause athletes to have a cardiac episode with the stress they're under when they're in an athletic competition. Secondly, it can have a performance-enhancing effect as well."

There will be no disciplinary action taken towards Credeur by the NSAC. "We found out about it beforehand, and he was very honest with us about it yesterday," said Kizer.

Unlike most drug related incidents, this is a good news story for the UFC. The co-operative attitude of the fighter and the NSAC show that drug testing is working and that both accept the need for such measures. The incident is a marked contrast to the Sean Sherk affair that rocked the UFC.

Sherk was stripped of the title after a failed drug test in July 2007. Sherk has vowed never to fight in California again. His suspension ran from until Jan. 7, but he remained officially on the suspension list until he paid his $2,500 fine, which didn't come until Monday April 14th.

Sherk was stripped of the belt in December, and BJ Penn won the vacant title by defeating Joe Stevenson at UFC 80: Rapid Fire in January.

Sean Sherk took and passed a lie detector test to help corroborate his version of why he tested positive for steroids. Sherk and his lawyers submitted that he ingested the steroids unknowingly in one of the many supplements he takes.

Sean Sherk was originally fined $2,500 and suspended for one year by the California State Athletic Commission after he tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite, an anabolic steroid following his fight with Hermes Franca at UFC 73: Stacked in Sacramento, California.

He attempted to regain the Lightweight title from BJ Penn at UFC 84: Ill Will in May, but was comprehensively beaten.

The UFC are keen to avoid any more damaging publicity relating to drug use. The professional conduct of Tim Credeur and the NSAC suggests that, at least in their home state of Nevada, the UFC are building a successful relationship with regulators.